Playing with house money, Marlies fading; Leafs vs. Lightning (maple leafs)

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Playing with house money, Marlies fading; Leafs vs. Lightning

By Mike Augello

Apr 21, 2022 • 9:40 am

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The Toronto Maple Leafs begin their final road trip of the regular season against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Thursday with a nice cushion in the race for second place in the Atlantic Division, which may be a factor in why leading scorer Auston Matthews and defenseman Jake Muzzin will once again not play.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that Matthews is close to being fully healthy and looked good at the club’s optional skate in Tampa, but will miss his third straight game. Muzzin has not played since a 7-3 win over Washington last Thursday but is reportedly dealing with an injury not related to his previous concussion issues.

With the Leafs holding an eight-point advantage over the Lightning, they have the luxury of resting their leading scorer and a veteran defenseman with less than two weeks before the playoffs start, as well as lightening the workload of their goaltenders.

After a winning 37-save performance over Philadelphia on Tuesday, Toronto is giving Jack Campbell the night off and is opting to start rookie Erik Kallgren, while the Lightning will go with Andrei Vasilevskiy in a must-win situation for the club, who are just one point ahead of Boston for third place.

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While some individual performances have been encouraging, the Toronto Marlies playoff chances appear to be in trouble. After losses to Syracuse and Belleville, the Marlies are in sixth place in the AHL’s North Division with 74 points, but with an unbalanced schedule of some teams playing 76 games and others playing 72, the post-season is being based on points percentage.

Toronto has five games remaining against Laval and Belleville (four on the road) and will likely have to win all five and get some help to qualify for the playoffs.

If eliminated, a number of players would become available to serve as “black aces… for the parent club in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and potentially play for the Leafs if injuries occur.

Winger Nick Robertson has been red-hot of late. The 20-year-old winger has eight goals in the last 10 games and is averaging over a point-per-game (25 points – 14 goals, 11 assists in 24 games). Forwards Brett Seney, Alex Steeves, Joey Anderson, defenseman Kristians Rubins, and goalies Joseph Woll (injured) and Michael Hutchinson all played in the NHL this season and might factor in if Toronto makes a long playoff run.

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